The Lord always provides plenty of warning to those who need to repent and change their wicked ways (Amos 3:7; 2 Chronicles 36:15–16; 2 Nephi 25:9). Holy men were called up as messengers from God to boldly testify of the people’s sins (v. 20), but judges, lawyers, and priests—those from the legal and religious establishments—led the opposition to the inspired messengers and arranged secretly for their assassination. The devil administers his own secret covenant, around which secret combinations and conspiracies thrive—always to set at defiance the laws which guarantee the rights and freedoms of everyone. Self-centered elitism is the devil’s priority.